JERUSALEM — Hundreds of former high-ranking Israeli officials have appealed to US President Donald Trump to urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu totake action against what they described as “acts of terrorism by Jewish settlers” in the occupied We st Bank.
In an open letter published on Monday, nearly 600 former military, diplomatic, and intelligence officials said Trump was the only one capable of helping to avoid the “calamity” of escalating violence in the West Bank and its implications for Israeli, US, and regional security.
They requested Trump send a “firm and clear” message to Netanyahu to prevent the impending “calamity.”
“Unless arrested swiftly and decisively, escalating violence in the West Bank is poised to ignite the region and carries severe ramifications for both Israeli security and US regional interests,” said the letter, written by lobby group Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS).
“It is our professional judgment that no one but you, Mr. President, can avert this calamity,” it said.
CIS also wrote that it is “no secret” that certain government members “orchestrate much of this chaos”, including by protecting settlers and Israeli forces from the scrutiny of the law.
Israel’s security agencies are severely constrained when it comes to “Jewish terrorists” and “certain members of our current government orchestrate much of this chaos, including by shielding their followers, who are armed and driven by messianic impulses, from the law and its enforcement,” the letter said.
The swell in Jewish settler terror activity risks consequences that may prove even more catastrophic than the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and its multi-front fallout, the group said.
The group called on Trump to raise the issue with Netanyahu in their meeting in Washington on Tuesday.
CIS is a Zionist movement of more than 550 retired Israeli army generals, as well as equivalent ranks in Mossad, Shin Bet, Israeli Police, the foreign service, and other corps.
The group’s stated mission is “securing Israel’s future as the strong democratic home of the Jewish people”.
The letter comes after widespread violence by Israeli settlers across the occupied West Bank over the weekend following a deadly shootout in the town of Tal in which two Israelis and four Palestinians were killed.
According to Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, the letter is in tandem with warnings from the Israeli defense establishment against Israeli settlers “taking on the initiative” and “calling the shots” on behalf of the Israeli army, and “putting even Israeli soldiers in harm’s way”.
Netanyahu is due to meet Trump on Tuesday in his seventh trip to the White House during Trump’s second term.
His trip comes as the latest escalation in fighting between Iran and the US is paused to give space for diplomatic efforts.
Source: Saudi Gazette